On May Day, Pro-Trump Group Bracing For Conflict In Seattle

SEATTLE, WA - A group of conservative, pro-Donald Trump activists will gather in Seattle on May Day as a counterpoint to planned leftist demonstrations, and the group is preparing for possible confrontations. As Seattle gears up for May Day - which typically brings large, sometimes violent, protests to the city - police say there is a potential this year for "crowd on crowd" conflict. The organizer of the pro-Trump rally says that some members of his group will be armed with guns, but he is asking everyone to remain nonviolent.

About 50 members of the Vancouver, Wash., group Patriot Prayer will travel to Seattle on Monday to host a rally dubbed "Stand Against Communism," organizer Joey Gibson told Patch.com on Friday. Gibson said that the group will mainly be in Seattle to promote small-government ideals. He expects other conservatives from the Seattle area to join his demonstration, but couldn't give an estimate on how many might show up.

The Patriot Prayer rally begins at 4 p.m. at Westlake Park, and will include speeches from Gibson and others. Gibson said he wants to encourage conservatives from the Seattle area to come out; he wants them to "be a little more courageous" about showing their conservative ideals in left-leaning Seattle.

"There will be a group of us who will be showing our support for the Police, Trump, Freedom, and AMERICA. Brave souls are welcome to join us. Bring your blue line, American, and Trump flags. This is a peaceful march. This is not a call to violence, but we will have people ready to protect anyone that wants to march with us for your free speech," the Facebook event page reads.

Asked if he thinks there will be conflict, Gibson said yes, and feels like leftists protesters might seek his group out. He says he has received threats already.

"We need to be men, we need to be adults, and we need to act like it," Gibson told Patch.com, referring to conflicts with other protesters. "I'm going to talk [to my group] about non-violence, but we do have a right to self defense."

Gibson, 33, said that he only got into political activism over the last year. He went to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last summer expecting violence, but instead encountered people who are passionate about their beliefs - even people whose beliefs he doesn't agree with.

"It changed my life because everyone was so passionate," he said. "Even if they hated Trump, I admired that they flew there for their beliefs."

Gibson said that he doesn't want to see left-wing protesters silenced. His problem is with protesters who incite violence, he said.

On Friday morning, Seattle police announced the arrest of a man who allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at the 2016 May Day protests in Seattle. In that incident, a Seattle police officer was burned. That arrest, three days before May Day 2017, was an apparent coincidence. But Seattle police on Friday also warned of conflict between politically-opposite groups.

In January, an anti-fascist protester was shot outside a University of Washington event with former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos. And more recently, there have been violent clashes in Berkeley, Calif., between left and right-wing protesters (Gibson's Patriot Prayer group traveled to Berkeley earlier in the week to attend protests - which remained peaceful - around an appearance by conservative pundit Ann Coulter).

"[Other protesters] have their rights, their freedom of speech, but they need to stop being violent and stop threatening people," he said. "I believe in their right to do what they're doing. There are people who care and want to talk and have a debate, and then there are other kids who run around and want to burn things down. Those are the ones I have a problem with."

Patch.com file photo